An Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) is a device that allows a flight crew to easily and efficiently perform various flight management tasks. The EFB derives its name from the traditional flight bag carried by a pilot onto the aircraft. The flight bag typically included various paper-based reference materials, such as the Aircraft Operating Manual, the Aircrew Operating Manual, and various Navigational Charts. An EFB is typically implemented as a general purpose computing platform, and one of the major advantages it provides is the reduction or replacement of the various paper-based reference materials.
More recently, EFBs are being configured to host a wide array of applications. The applications include document viewer applications, electronic checklists (ECL), flight performance calculations, non-interactive electronic approach charts, head-down display for Enhanced Vision Systems (EVS), Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) or video cameras, and real-time weather data display, just to name a few. Although quite useful, many of these functions are redundant to those that are already implemented in other aircraft avionics devices. Such redundancy can increase overall aircraft and system costs and may also increase installation complexity due to wiring and certification costs. Moreover, many functions presently provided by EFBs may not be implemented in a manner that most efficiently reduces pilot workload. Moreover, various other useful functions are not implemented in current EFBs or other aircraft avionics systems.
Accordingly, there is a need for an EFB that implements various functions in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The present invention addresses at least this need.